McKinsey & Company offers employees 9 months salary, incentives to resign

McKinsey & Company is offering many high-level staffers in the UK a chance to resign in exchange for nine months salary and additional benefits. The employees in question will also be able to utilise this time to secure new employment without any obligation to work on client assignments. 

As per a report by The Times, workers will not be required to engage in client projects during this 'job search' period. Instead they will have the chance to use all their working hours to seek a new opportunity. During this nine month period the employees in question would also continue to receive their full salary and have access to the company's resources and career coaching services.

Meanwhile in the US, some McKinsey & Co. consultants have been warned that they are running out of time to win a promotion. The “up or out” policy is an approach used at many global consulting firms, where it’s expected that employees are promoted within a specific time-frame or exit.

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Memos raising the “up or out” pressure on staffers were sent out to some engagement managers and associate partners in North America. According to a Bloomberg report quoting people in the know, staff in this role were reminded that they have an average of two and a half years to be promoted. The timeline for promotions varies by employee and those who took periods of absence will not be negatively impacted. Some of the employees who got memos also received offers for payouts should they choose to leave McKinsey ahead of their reviews in the coming months.

The developments suggest that McKinsey may be rethinking its policies after several years of aggressive hiring and low attrition rates. Last year, the company had embarked on a plan to eliminate about 1,400 roles — a sharp deviation from it's typical habit of relying on underperforming workers being “counseled to leave”. Most of the affected employees didn’t have direct contact with clients and were focused on support functions. 

Earlier this year, the senior partners reelected Global Managing Partner Bob Sternfels for a further three years, at a time when the consulting industry is facing a slowdown in client activity, public scrutiny and economic headwinds — although McKinsey said it generated a record $16 billion in revenue last year.

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(With inputs from agencies)